Sam Burgess said he was “extremely lucky” to avoid a serious neck injury after being carried off and taken to hospital during South Sydney’s match against St George Illawarra.

The 27-year-old was involved in an accidental clash of heads with another Englishman, the former Warrington prop Mike Cooper, in the 58th minute of the NRL clash.

Burgess, who was playing only his third game back in rugby league following a nine-month stint in rugby union with Bath and England, lowered his head as he ran the ball up to a wall of Dragons defenders and, upon impact, immediately fell to the ground.

Burgess lay prone on the turf for several minutes as he was treated by medical personnel before being taken off on a stretcher and rushed to the nearby St Vincent’s Hospital.

But Burgess later explained on Twitter that hospital checks on his injury had not highlighted any significant damage.

He wrote: “Initial scan results are positive. Thank you all for messages of support – feeling extremely lucky tonight. A few days of rest now. Sam.”

The Rabbitohs were trailing 8-6 at the time and no more points were scored following the incident. The player’s mother Julie and close friend Russell Crowe, the Hollywood actor and Souths joint owner, were visibly distressed as they watched from the stands but the coach, Michael Maguire, said the initial signs were positive.

Maguire said in his post-match press conference: “The doctor was pretty positive, which was good news. He had a bit of tingling down one arm and they go through all the right processes when you have an incident like that, but from what I’ve been told he (Burgess) was pretty positive when they put him in the ambulance, so we’ll have to wait and see about the scans.

“He was in a bit of pain, he got compressed there quite heavily, but as I’ve been told he’s in a pretty good frame of mind.”

The Rabbitohs captain Greg Inglis added: “You don’t want to see that from any player, to go down like that. When he’s lying there motionless and you can’t really say much, it is worrying.”